Cambodia Review

Our time in Cambodia was unique to our travels. We did not stay in the country very long and we mainly stayed in two different cities. We did not travel very much in Cambodia but we enjoyed our experience.

Something to know about Cambodia is that its infrastructure is not quite there yet. Siem Reap is probably the most tourist friendly city due to Angkor Wat and even it is not entirely what you might expect of a place with tourists pouring through each year. Cambodia has been beaten down time and time again in the past hundred years coming to a head when the Khmer Rouge took power and systematically executed 2-3 million people. The Khmer Rouge also liquified all of the countries assets destroying its banks and industry; anything with western influence was destroyed. The country has had to completely rebuild from the ground up for the past 40 years. Considering that they lost a third of their population including most of the intellectuals, business owners, teachers, and medical professionals I think they have done a very good job. The country has seen steady growth and political stability while dealing with some very heavy trauma.

The growth that Cambodia has maintained is partly due to other countries. I believe that when the full extent of the damage of the Khmer Rouge was revealed the world collectively gasped and began to send aid. Since then Cambodia has become a hotspot for charities and NGO's. More in quantity than any other country we've visited and definitely more visibly active. I think that this has definitely given the country a much needed boost and hopefully will continue to be helpful to Cambodia.

One thing that I found interesting was the amount of cattle and land for cattle that I saw. The entire northern part of our drive through Cambodia was devoted pastures for ox and cattle. It developed further south into rice paddies but still with cattle mixed in. Although we have seen many cows and oxen in other SE Asian countries I had not seen such a concentration of them and land seemingly devoted only for them.

For us Cambodia was a quick stop but well worth it. We were almost paralyzed with the unrelenting heat but we soon learned how to deal with it better (find a spot with a breeze and don't move from 1pm to 5pm). We were also almost paralyzed by the garbage smell. Some cities were terrible to walk through when the breeze was in the wrong direction. This hasn't necessarily been uncommon in our travels though and you learn to take something clothe to breath through.

We were pleasantly surprised by the delicious food in Cambodia. We had mixed reviews from other travellers but we found it superb, especially in Siem Reap. My favorite was a pad thai type of meal but crepes substituted for noodles and a thin honey and peanut sauce instead of tamarind sauce. Also on our radar was Amok, a curry vegetable soup. Yum yum yum!

Another unexpected part of our travels in Cambodia was the history. As I described in a previous blog this was very challenging but worthwhile for us. A horrific event that should both be remembered and never repeated. As one author I briefly read wrote; "They (Cambodians) deserve better than what they have received."